Tag: Civil Rights Movement
“We were willing to be beaten for democracy,” says Rev. C.T. Vivian, recalling the freedom movement and voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery in March 1965. It was, he says, “the beginning of the transformation of America.” More
“The church had been waking up to the need for race reform in the post-war era,” says Georgia State University history professor Glenn Eskew. “The change had been slow among the establishment within the churches from the top down, but from the seminarians, the young people from the bottom up—they embraced the movement. They embraced the idea of racial change.” More
As the movie opens today (January 9) in theaters around the country amidst controversy over its portrayal of former president Lyndon Johnson, we speak with director Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo, the actor who portrays Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., about what it means to them to tell the story of the historic 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. More
The United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline states that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching,” and it prohibits Methodist ministers from performing same-sex marriages. But “these are unjust laws,” says Rev. Thomas Ogletree, “and therefore they do not really have the authority of law.” More
The civil rights movement was both “the work of the Lord and the work of freedom,” says author Taylor Branch. “It took redemption, and it took faith and tenacity, not just an empty, simple hope.” More
“If four little girls dressed in white for Sunday school can be blown to pieces because of hatred, everyone has to stop and think, where are we going as a society?” More
“Sixteenth Street Church had unwillingly come into the civil rights movement and was quick to exit the movement—and yet in many ways it becomes the symbol of the movement in Birmingham—so much so that following the dynamite blast, many of its members leave.” More
Recent events such as the shooting death of Trayvon Martin and the subsequent trial of George Zimmerman have highlighted racial divides that still exist in the U.S. 50 years after the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In the wake of the shooting, local black and white pastors in Sanford, Florida are taking a hard look at what more they can do to promote dialogue, understanding, and racial reconciliation. More
“We need to remember that the anniversary of the March on Washington is not the anniversary of a speech, but the anniversary of a very important point in history to expand democracy, to deepen democracy, and to make democracy more faithful to its own sayings.” More
“I call Dr. King a modern founder in the sense that he was doing just what Jefferson and Lincoln and the other American founders were doing in their most spiritual moments…which was to confront very stubborn forms of evil and subjugation and figure out a way to transform them into equal citizenship.” More
-
Providing Support for pbs.org
What's New
